Philadelphia, PA (January 2012)—In conjunction with the exhibition Van Gogh Up Close (February 1 through May 6, 2012), the Philadelphia Museum of Art will offer a broad range of related programs including a lecture with exhibition curator Joseph Rishel; a book talk and signing with acclaimed authors of Van Gogh: The Life, Steven Naifeh and Gregory White; a conversation about the legacy of van Gogh with a panel of contemporary artists including Philadelphia photographer Zoe Strauss, whose exhibition Zoe Strauss: Ten Years will be on view January 14 through April 22, 2012; and a film series including Vincente Minnelli’s “Lust for Life” starring Kirk Douglas as Vincent van Gogh.

The full schedule of programs is as follows:

Sunday, February 12, 3:00 p.m.
Van Pelt Auditorium
The Rose Susan Hirschhorn Behrend LectureVan Gogh: The Life Talk and Book Signing
Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith, who won a Pulitzer Prize for Jackson Pollock: An American Saga, discuss their new biography, Van Gogh: The Life. They’ll speak about the artist’s turbulent personal life, his immersion into the art and literature of his era, and how they shaped one of the signature imaginations in Western art. A book signing will follow the talk.
$20 ($16 members; $5 students with valid ID; includes Museum admission)
Ticket required.

Friday, March 9, 6:30 p.m.
Van Pelt AuditoriumVan Gogh Up Close with Curator Joseph Rishel
Joseph Rishel explores key works and themes of Van Gogh Up Close. Rishel is the Gisela and Dennis Alter Senior Curator of European Painting before 1900, and Senior Curator of the John G. Johnson Collection and the Rodin Museum.
$20 ($16 members; $5 students with valid ID)
Ticket required.

Friday, April 27, 6:30 p.m.
Van Pelt AuditoriumPhiladelphia Artists on Vincent van Gogh
Artists Emily Brown, Hiro Sakaguchi, and Zoe Strauss
Why is van Gogh still important to artists today? Enjoy this informal conversation between local artists and curators.
$10 ($8 members and students with valid ID)
Ticket required; includes program only.

FILM FOR ALL
This series of three films speaks to the profound connection between the cinematic and visual arts and offers greater insight into the life and work of van Gogh.

Sunday, February 26, 2:00 p.m.
Van Pelt AuditoriumLust for Life (1956), 122 minutes
Directed by Vincente Minnelli and adapted from Irving Stone’s book, “Lust for Life” erupts with the expressive colors of van Gogh’s own paintings. Kirk Douglas stars as van Gogh, harnessing his own primal reticence and deeply insecure arrogance. Minnelli dials Douglas’s performance further up, as film critic Dave Kehr noted, anchoring “the film in a dazzlingly schizophrenic, first-person point of view.”
$8 after Museum admission ($6 members and students with valid ID)
Ticket required.

Friday, March 30, 6:30 p.m.
Van Pelt AuditoriumAkira Kurosawa’s Dreams (1990), 119 minutes
As legend has it, when Akira Kurosawa decided to abandon his training as a painter in the 1930s and become a film director, he burned all of his canvases. It wasn’t until his mental
breakdown while working on “Tora! Tora! Tora!” (1970) that he turned to painting again, but it was only little touches of color in storyboards and costume designs. Kurosawa saved his van Gogh–esque explosion of color for “Dreams,” which features an appearance by the director Martin Scorsese as van Gogh.
$8 after Museum admission ($6 members and students with valid ID)
Ticket required.

Sunday, April 22, 2:00 p.m.
Van Pelt AuditoriumVan Gogh (1991), 158 minutes
This beautifully photographed film directed by Maurice Pialat delivers a pitch-perfect account of van Gogh’s final months. Jacques Dutronc portrays the artist with a mix of restrained empathy and carefully observed details. Together the filmmaker and lead actor avoid the pitfalls and expectations of the biopic, presenting a portrait of the man and not a lionization of a genius.
$8 after Museum admission ($6 members and students with valid ID)
Ticket required.

Special Discount:
See all three films for $20 ($16 members and students with valid ID).

The Film for All series highlights the close connection between film and fine art, focusing on important artists, movements, themes, or historical events featured in the world of film. Each film is introduced by Will Schmenner, Museum intern and film coordinator and a Ph.D. candidate, History of Art, University of Pennsylvania. Film for All and the film internship are supported in part by the History of Art Department, University of Pennsylvania, and the Graduate Guides of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

ART HISTORY COURSEThursdays, February 2, 9, 16, and 23, 1:30–2:30 p.m.ORSaturdays, February 4 and 18, 10:00 a.m.–12:15 p.m.
Van Pelt AuditoriumVan Gogh: From Impressionism to Post-Impressionism
Lecturer: Catherine Hahn, Ph.D. candidate, Art History, Tyler School of Art, Temple University
Have you ever wondered why the art of the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists is so universally revered? Why are Monet, Renoir, and van Gogh, among others, household names? This course examines some of the greatest treasures of late nineteenth-century art so that we can come to terms with what made both styles so revolutionary.
Lecture 1: What Is Impressionism? Édouard Manet, Berthe Morisot, and Edgar Degas
Lecture 2: Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Claude Monet
Lecture 3: Gustave Caillebotte, Camille Pissarro, and Mary Cassatt
Lecture 4: Vincent van Gogh and Post-Impressionism
$100 (member $80)
Ticket required.

About Van Gogh Up CloseVan Gogh Up Close presents some of the artist’s most daring and innovative works that have never been seen together and contributed to altering the course of modern painting. The exhibition features 46 still lifes and landscapes van Gogh made in Paris, Arles, Saint-Rémy, and Auvers that concentrate on “close-ups” of flowers, trees, open fields, forest interiors, and countryside vistas. Among significant loans from major museums and private collections in Europe, North America, and Japan are works such as Almond Blossom, Sunflowers, Iris, Sheaves of Wheat, and Vineyard at Auvers. The exhibition also presents more than 30 comparative works including Japanese woodblock prints and European prints, drawings, and photographs by artists whose works bore intriguing correspondences with and offered inspiration for van Gogh. The exhibition will be seen in the United States only in Philadelphia.

This exhibition is made possible by GlaxoSmithKline and Sun Life Financial. The exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities. Additional support is provided by the Robert Lehman Foundation, The Pew Charitable Trusts, The Annenberg Foundation Fund for Major Exhibitions, The Kathleen C. and John J. F. Sherrerd Fund for Exhibitions, the National Endowment for the Arts, The Women’s Committee of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Barbara B. and Theodore R. Aronson, David and Margaret Langfitt, Mr. and Mrs. Robert E. Linck, Mr. and Mrs. John M. Thalheimer, Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Abramson, The Arcadia Foundation, Mrs. Eugene W. Jackson, and other generous individuals. Promotional support is provided by NBC 10 WCAU and Amtrak. The catalogue was funded, in part, by the Netherland-America Foundation. The exhibition is organized by the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art is Philadelphia's art museum. We are a landmark building. A world-renowned collection. A place that welcomes everyone. We bring the arts to life, inspiring visitors—through scholarly study and creative play—to discover the spirit of imagination that lies in everyone. We connect people with the arts in rich and varied ways, making the experience of the Museum surprising, lively, and always memorable. We are committed to inviting visitors to see the world—and themselves—anew through the beauty and expressive power of the arts.

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